Summary: Everyone forgets Quinn's birthday. Even her parents. A few days later, Mr. Schuester or Rachel looks at the glee club calendar and realizes they have. Heavy angst. Allusions from 3x15 "Big Brother" through 3x18, "Choke." Fill for a post in the Glee Angst Meme. Requested by: Anonymous.

Prompt: Bare

April 14th came and went, and not one person said anything to Quinn. It was the most she'd come to expect from her parents. Ever since that last fight with her dad their relationship had deteriorated to nothing at all. Her mom was too busy with work and social functions. To her, Quinn was almost grown anyway, birthdays had less significance as you aged. But her mom wasn't turning eighteen.

Her mom wasn't living on the other side of the worst few years of her life. Her mom wasn't holding her breath, hoping that someone, somewhere would remember her birthday and say something. Her mom wasn't less than two months removed from a horrific car crash that could have taken Quinn's life. Her mom wasn't the one feeling like, maybe, this birthday had a little extra significance. Not because Quinn was turning eighteen, but because she was still here to celebrate at all.

No one said anything.

Not at home. Not even at school, where Santana and Brittany were great about remembering. She could always count on pineapple upside down cake from Santana's mom, and a genuine "happy birthday" from Santana. A homemade card from Brittany. But this year, there's nothing.

She'd just done Senior Ditch Day with Artie at a terrifying skate park with steep ramps. It was kind of exhilarating - but only increased her isolation. What she wouldn't have given to go to Six Flags. To ride a roller coaster without a care in the world like everyone else. She'd have liked, instead of concentrating on all the ways she was different, to have gone with the majority. If Quinn wasn't allowed to ride something, she would have gained some joy by at least being with them - and maybe she could have thought of ways to join in. Oh well. No chance of that now.

Quinn found herself making excuses for them. The kids in glee. Quinn had only come back to school this past week. The 14th was on a Saturday. Maybe everyone was busy. She could celebrate by herself, but what would she do? She couldn't drive. The house was inaccessible. So, she spent the day alone, doing what she had done for the past few Saturdays. Watched television. Tried to catch up on school work. And ride out the pain that her injury caused that she tried so hard to keep hidden.

In the end, it was just like every other day. No candles. No cake. Not one gift. Not one hug. Her mom wasn't even home, and instead had hired some kind of nurse to care for Quinn while she worked and ran errands.


The next week, Quinn's pain flared up and she couldn't be in school. It wasn't as if it was any big loss. They were doing 70s music, even though all of them had told Mr. Schuester time and time again that it wasn't in, but he wouldn't be convinced.

No, Quinn didn't miss the John Travolta style dancing. The white leisure suits. The awful songs. She stayed at home, riding out pain. She went to the hospital for rehab and gritted her teeth through all the exercises. She forced herself to move forward - and not stay stuck in the past - for the lack of acknowledgement of her birthday.

But it left her feeling cold. Exposed. Vulnerable in a way she couldn't explain.

And when, two weeks later, they realized their oversight it was too little too late. By then, Rachel was auditioning for NYADA. Puck was dealing with seeing his dad. And the pain. And the rehab. It was working, but not fast enough.

So, she put her worries aside and concentrated on something she could do. She had one more week until prom. One more week to be crowned and show everyone how all her hard work paid off. She would walk - stand, at least - to show them that this did not define her.

Quinn Fabray would move forward. Birthday or not. She would move forward.

The End.